Foley...Gore... and the Internet

Daily Howler's Bob Somerby has long been a passionate defender of Al Gore and critic of the cavalier media attacks on Gore that destroyed his campaign for President in 2000 . It was Bob Somerby who first disabused me of the notion that Al Gore had claimed to have invented the Internet and I strongly recommend that you get your facts straight here. Somerby is currently working on a book about the 2000 campaign and in the course of his research he came across this nugget which links nicely with today's stories.

By happenstance, we were working yesterday on the chapter about the invention of the AL GORE, LIAR script in March 1999. The most important building-block of this punishing script -- the script which clearly sent Bush to the White House -- —was the invention of the iconic claim that Al Gore said he invented the Internet. This week, two liberal bloggers were still amusing the world with hilarious jokes on this punishing theme. So here'’s the question: Who was the very first person to use the phrase "“invented the Internet?"” No, Gore never said "“invented"” in the mildly murky but unremarkable statement which was "“paraphrased"” in the now-famous way. Just who was the very first person to paraphrase Gore in this fashion?

Answer? Omigod! Mark Foley! Here'’s the start of the Hotline'’s report about the first day of the flap:

THE HOTLINE (3/12/99):
GORE: GOP GUFFAWS OVER HIS CLAIM HE CREATED INTERNET
House GOPers 3/11 "gleefully pounced on" VP Gore's televised remark that he had taken "the initiative in creating the Internet." Dick Armey: "If the vice president created the Internet, then I created the Interstate highway system. When historians write about the Internet, I don't think they'll put the vice president in the same category as Thomas Edison." In an interview shown on CNN 3/9, Gore was asked about his vision and his experience and he mentioned that while he served in Congress, "I took the initiative in creating the Internet." Rep. Mark Foley: "The vice president is mistaken. The only thing he has ever invented is another tax. He did not invent the Internet but he sure did tax it." (Reuters, 3/12).

Within days, "“invented the Internet"” was the phrasing of choice as the War Against Gore started fast.

So... Gore was instrumental in Congressional support for the fledgling Internet, Foley mis-quoted and trashed him and then the Internet is instrumental in Foley's downfall.

Poetic justice...?